As 3D movies and other programs have grown in popularity, there is a growing desire for camera hardware and apparatus which can support capture of images that are suitable for use in generating 3D content, e.g., videos that may be used as part of a movie, advertisement, program, or even for viewing of an event in real or near real time. One way of generating 3D content is by capturing stereoscopic image data, e.g., pairs of images which can be used as left and right eye images, using stereoscopic camera systems including a pair of left and right cameras for capturing left and right eye images.
In the case of stereoscopic image capture where pairs of cameras are used, e.g., to capture images corresponding to left and right eye views, alignment of the cameras in the camera pair, sometimes referred to as a stereoscopic camera pair, can be important. As part of the alignment the spacing and orientation between the cameras needs to be set as desired and maintained after configuration so that it is reasonably consistent for a period of time in which images, e.g., video images, are captured.
Unfortunately, with many existing camera mounting systems, which are designed primarily with mounting of single cameras in mind, relatively loose fitting lenses and/or limited adjustment capabilities can make aligning a pair of cameras and maintaining the alignment over time difficult.
When capture of stereoscopic images corresponding to a 360 degree area is desired, the complexity with camera alignment and positioning is greatly complicated since it is desirable that stereoscopic images be captured in a manner that allows them to be easily stitched together since a single camera normally can not capture a full 360 degree field of view.
During field deployment of stereoscopic camera systems the alignment of stereoscopic cameras of a stereoscopic camera pair may be disturbed by vibrations and/or shocks made during shipping.
It is often desirable to be able to use filters with cameras and/or selectively choose not to use a filter for certain shots. Changing of filters often involves removal of a lens or placing a filter over the lens. Such actions may affect the alignment of the lens and/or camera. In the case of stereoscopic camera pairs which have been aligned, changing or removing filters can be particularly problematic in that the alignment between the camera pairs maybe changed due to the manual removal of a lens or filter on a lens and/or placement of a new filter on a lens.
It is desirable that in at least some embodiments that a switching between using a filter or not, or, alternatively, switching between different filters, be easily implemented without having to individually place or remove a filter over one camera lens and then the other camera lens of a camera pair.
In view of the above discussion it should be appreciated that there is a need for improved methods and apparatus for using, changing and/or removing a filters in a system where multiple cameras are used.